 | |
| Geographical range | Europe |
|---|---|
| Period | Early Bronze Age |
| Dates | c. 2300–1600 BC[1] |
| Type site | Únětice |
| Preceded by | Bell Beaker culture,Corded Ware culture,Schönfeld culture |
| Followed by | Tumulus culture,Nordic Bronze Age,Mad'arovce culture,Trzciniec culture |
TheÚnětice culture,Aunjetitz culture, orUnetician culture (Czech:Únětická kultura,German:Aunjetitzer Kultur,Polish:Kultura unietycka,Slovak:Únětická kultúra) is anarchaeological culture at the start of theCentral EuropeanBronze Age, dated roughly to about 2300–1600 BC.[1] The eponymous site for this culture, the village ofÚnětice (Czech pronunciation:[ˈuːɲɛcɪtsɛ]), is located in the central Czech Republic, northwest ofPrague. There are about 1,400 documented Únětice culture sites in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and 550 in Poland, with about 500 further sites and loose-finds locations in Germany.[2] The Únětice culture is also known from northeastern Austria (in association with the so-calledBöheimkirchen group) and from western Ukraine.
The Únětice culture is named after a discovery by Czech surgeon and amateur archaeologistČeněk Rýzner (1845–1923), who in 1879 found a cemetery inBohemia of over 50 inhumations onHolý Vrch, the hill overlooking the village ofÚnětice. At about the same time, the first Úněticean burial ground was unearthed in Southern Moravia inMěnín by A. Rzehak. Following these initial discoveries and until the 1930s, many more sites, primarily cemeteries, were identified, includingNěmčice nad Hanou (1926), sites in the vicinity ofPrague,Polepy (1926–1927), andŠardičky (1927).
In Germany, a princely grave inLeubingen had already been excavated in 1877 by F. Klopfleisch; however, he incorrectly dated the monument to theHallstatt during theIron Age. In subsequent years, a main cluster of Úněticean sites in Central Germany were identified atBaalberge,Helmsdorf,Nienstedt,Körner,Leubingen,Halberstadt,Klein Quenstedt,Wernigerode,Blankenburg, andQuedlinburg. At the same time, Adlerberg andStraubing groups were defined in 1918 by Schumacher.
InSilesia, the first archaeologist associated with the discovery and identification of the Únětice culture wasHans Seger (1864–1943). Seger not only discovered several Úněticean sites and supervised pioneering excavations in locations in Silesia, now in Poland asPrzecławice, but he also linked BohemianEuropean Bronze Age (EBA) materials with similar assemblages inLower Silesia. InGreater Poland, the first excavations at the royal Úněticean necropolis ofŁęki Małe were undertaken byJózef Kostrzewski in 1931, but major archaeological discoveries at this site were made only years later, in 1953 and 1955.[4] In 1935, Kostrzewski published the first data and findings of theIwno culture, another Bronze Age culture contemporaneous with the Únětice EBA, from western Poland. In 1960,Wanda Sarnowska (1911–1989) began excavations inSzczepankowice, nearWrocław, southwest Poland, where a new group of barrows was unearthed. In 1969, she published a newmonograph on the Únětice culture, in which she cataloged, analysed, and described assemblages deriving from 373 known EBA Úněticean sites in Poland.[5][6]
The first unified chronological system (relative chronology) based on a typology of ceramics and metal artefacts for the Únětice culture in Bohemia was introduced by Václav Moucha in 1963.[7] This chronological system, consisting of six sub-phases, was considered valid for the Bohemian groups of the Únětice culture, and it was later adapted in Poland[8] and in Germany.[9]
More recently, the Únětice culture has been cited as a pan-European cultural phenomenon[10] whose influence covered large areas due to intensive exchange, with Únětice pottery and bronze artefacts found from Ireland to Scandinavia, the Italian Peninsula, and the Balkans.[11] As such, it is a candidate for a community connecting a continuum of already scattered, lateIndo-European languages ancestral to theItalo-Celtic,Germanic, and perhapsBalto–Slavic groups, between which words were frequently exchanged, and a common lexicon, as well as regionalisoglosses were shared.[12]: 845
The culture corresponds to Bronze A1 and A2 in the chronological schema ofPaul Reinecke:
| Period | Reinecke 1924[15] | Moucha 1963[7] | Pleinerová 1967[16] | Bartelheim 1998[17] | Absolute dating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LateEneolithic | (A0) | 1. Proto-Únětice | Ia Ib | Older Únětice | 1 | 2300–2000 BC |
| 2. Old Únětice | ||||||
| 3. Middle Únětice | II | 2 | ||||
| 4. Pre-classical Únětice | ||||||
| Older Bronze Age | A1 | 5. Classic Únětice | III | Younger Únětice | 3 | 2000–1800 BC |
| A2 | 6. Post-classical Únětice | 1800–1700 BC | ||||
| Middle Bronze Age | B2 | Tumulus culture (west),Trzciniec culture (east) | ||||
The Únětice culture originated in the territories of contemporary Bohemia. Ten local sub-groups can be distinguished in its classical phase:[18]
From a technical point of view, Úněticean graves can be divided in two categories: flat graves and barrows.[28] The Únětice culture practiced skeletal inhumations, butcremation occasionally took place as well.
A typical Úněticean cemetery was situated near a settlement, usually on a hill oracclivity, and in the vicinity of a creek or river. The distance between the cemetery and the adjacent settlement very rarely exceeded 1 kilometre (0.62 mi). Cemeteries were usually spatially organized, with symmetrical rows or alleys.[29] Burials were orientated according to stars and the relative position of the sun on the horizon during the year, which may indicate advanced prehistoric astronomical observations.[30][31]
To date, over fifty Úněticeanbarrows have been found inCentral Europe; the majority of the monuments have been published in archaeological literature, but only about 60% of that number have been excavated according to modern standards. Some of the tombs found in the early 19th century, such as the many tombs inKościan County, Poland, were incorrectly identified and robbed or otherwise destroyed.
The largest concentrations of Úněticean barrows, also known in archaeological literature as "princely graves", can be found:
The size of the tombs varies, with the largest originally being the Bornhöck burial mound (the largest Bronze Age burial mound in Central Europe), dating fromc. 1800 BC. The mound belonged to a ruler or "prince" who was likely associated with theNebra sky disc.[35] It was originally around 65 metres in diameter and 15 metres in height, but it was mostly destroyed in the late 19th century.[36] The mound was originally covered with white limestone (chalk)—a very unusual practice in Central Europe but common in contemporaryBronze Age Britain.[37][38][a] A'brotlaibidol' clay tablet was also found in the grave.[39]
The largest surviving burial mound is Barrow No. 4 at Łęki Małe, associated with the Kościan Group of the Únětice Culture—which is 50 metres in diameter and 5–6 metres in height today. In the classic phase, a typical "princely grave" was approximately 25 metres in diameter and 5 metres in height.
A gold axe and jewellery dating fromc. 1800 BC were discovered atDieskau in Germany and are thought to be associated with the ruler buried in the Bornhöck mound.[41] A gold dagger dating from the Early Bronze Age has also been recovered fromInowrocław in Poland, associated with theIwno culture.[42][41] Gold weapons are known from other parts of Europe in this period, including an axe fromTufalau in Romania, belonging to theWietenberg culture,[43] a dagger from Mala Gruda in Montenegro, belonging to theVučedol culture,[44] a dagger fromDabene in Bulgaria,[45] and daggers and halberds fromPerșinari andMăcin in Romania, belonging to theTei culture.[46] The Tei culture weapons were found buried with Únětice-style gold bracelets.[47] In Switzerland, a large ceremonial axe of a type also found in the Únětice culture (theThun-Renzenbühl axe), was inlaid with gold decorations using adamascening technique also known from gold-decorated weapons inMycenaean Greece.[48] A similar axe inlaid with gold was found in a hoard fromTrassem in Germany, dating fromc. 1600 BC.[49]
A typical Úněticean flat grave was a rectangular or oval pit 1-1.9 metres long, 0.6-1.2 metres wide, and 0.30-1.5 metres deep. Depending on the shape of the bottom and the depth, graves can be divided into four sub-types: rectangular, concave, trapezoid, or hourglass.[51]
One of the most prominent characteristics is the position of the body in the grave pit. The deceased were always buried in a north–south alignment, with the head south and facing east. The body was usually placed in the grave in a slightly contracted position. Exceptions from this rule are sporadic.[citation needed]
In the classic phase (approximately 1850–1750 BC), the Úněticean burial rite displays strong uniformity, regardless of the sex or age of the deceased. Men and women were buried in the same north–south position. The grave goods consisted of ceramic vessels (usually 1–5), bronze items (jewellery and private belongings, rings, hair clips, pins, etc.), bone artefacts (amulets and tools, including needles), occasionally flint tools (the burial of Archer fromNowa Wieś Wrocławska, for example, was buried with colour flint arrowheads).[53] A body deposited within a grave might have been protected with mats made from plant materials or in acoffin, but in the majority of cases, there was no additional coverage of the corpse. A well-known example of wicker-made coffin inhumation derives from theBruszczewo fortified settlement, nearPoznań in Greater Poland.[54] In approximately 20% of burials, stone settings were found. Erection of a full stone setting or just a partial one (a few stones in the corners of the grave) seems to be quite a common practice observed in all phases of the EBA in Central Europe. Wooden coffins were discovered at several sites such as inLower Silesia. Únětice culture coffin burials can be divided into two types, according to their construction: coffins of the stretcher type, and coffins of the canoe type. Coffins were made of a single block of wood. The most prominent example of a rich cemetery containing many such inhumations is in Przecławice,[55] near Wrocław. Coffin burials appear in Central Europe during theNeolithic and are well known fromBell Beaker andCorded Ware cultures inMoravia.[56]
At the large Early Bronze Age cemetery ofFranzhausen inLower Austria, social hierarchy is indicated by differing grave depths, the use of oak log coffins, and different quantities and qualities of grave goods. These included animal remains, ceramic vessels, bronze weapons and tools, and jewellery made from bronze, gold, amber, and glass. Some elite women were buried with elaborate bronze headdresses. The cemetery has also provided the earliest preserved fragments of striped fabric clothing in central Europe.[57][58][59]
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The Únětice culture is distinguished by its characteristic metal objects, including ingottorcs, flat axes, flat triangular daggers, bracelets with spiral ends, disk- and paddle-headed pins, andcurl rings, which are distributed over a wide area of Central Europe and beyond.
The ingots are found inhoards that can contain over six hundred pieces. Axe-hoards are common as well: the hoard ofDieskau (Saxony-Anhalt) contained 293 flanged axes. Thus, axes might have served as ingots as well. These hoards have formerly been interpreted as a type of storage by itinerant bronze-founders or as riches hidden because of enemy action. They have also been interpreted as evidence for the existence of organized groups of warriors or 'armies'.[62] Hoards containing mainly jewellery are typical for the Adlerberg group.
After 2000 BC, a major expansion of bronze production took place, with tin bronzes becoming dominant. Ring ingots were exchanged widely.[63] Special weapons and ornaments were produced as status symbols for high-ranking individuals.
Gold processing and forging is attested at the fortified settlement ofBruszczewo in Poland from 2300 to 1800 BC.[64]
The famousNebra sky disk is associated with the Central Germany groups of the Únětice culture.[65] Gold and tin used to make the Nebra disc was imported fromCornwall in southern England,[66][67] whilst the copper was imported from Austria.[68] The same source of gold was used to make important objects from the early Bronze Age in Britain, such as artefacts from the eliteBush Barrow burial nearStonehenge.[69] According to the archaeologistSabine Gerloff, the gold plating (or inlay) technique used on the disc originated in Britain.[70]
A similar gold inlay technique is seen on the contemporaryThun-Renzenbühl axe from Switzerland, which has also been connected to Mycenaean Greece.[71][72]
Typical Úněticean housing structures are known from Czechia and Germany. The houses were constructed of wood and were rectangular in plan, with an entrance on the western side. Thegabled roofs werethatched, and walls were constructed using thewattle and daub technique.
One of the most characteristic features associated with settlements are storage pits. They were located beneath the houses and were deep and spacious, with a cylindrical or slightly conical neck, arched walls, and a relatively flat bottom. These pits often served as granaries.
The vast majority of settlements consisted of several houses congregated in the communal space of the village or hamlet. Larger fortified villages, with ramparts and wooden fortifications, have been discovered as well, in, for exampleBruszczewo in Greater Poland[82] andRadłowice inSilesia.[83] These larger villages played a role as local political centres, possibly also market places, facilitating the flow of goods and supplies.[84] The 'proto-urban' fortified settlement ofFidvár in Slovakia was an important centre for the exploitation of nearby gold and tin deposits.[85][86] Hillforts are known from the Late Únětice period, such as Cezavy in the Czech Republic, which featured stone fortification walls.[87][88]
Around 2300 BC, large circular enclosures were built atPömmelte and nearbySchönebeck, in central Germany. These were important ritual sites that remained in use untilc. 1900 BC.[89][80] Pömmelte is described as a central place ofsupraregional importance.[90] The largest known Early Bronze Age settlement in central Europe was built next to the Pömmelte enclosure.[81] The remains of 130 large timber houses have been found on the site; they were typically 20 metres in length, with some up to 30.5 metres, and with floor areas ranging from 80m² to 360m².[91][92][93]
Some Únětice buildings were exceptionally large, such as theDermsdorf longhouse (44m x 11m) and Zwenkau longhouse (57m x 9m), both in central Germany. The Dermsdorf longhouse is estimated to have been at least 8.5 metres in height.[78] These buildings may have been elite residences, cult buildings, meeting halls, or 'men's houses' for groups of warriors or soldiers under the command of individual rulers.[77][62][94][95][96] The Dermsdorf longhouse was built a short distance from a settlement atLeubingen, in direct alignment with the nearbyLeubingen burial mound. A large number of axes were ritually deposited together in front of the longhouse, which may have belonged to a contingent of warriors or soldiers.[62]
Experimental reconstructions of Bronze Age longhouses indicate that the builders must have had "a complex system of numbers and data for linear measurements" to manage such house-building challenges.[97] Construction techniques included the use of rectangular beams, planks and boards,mortise and tenon joints,scarf joints, single-notched joints, slots, grooves, pivots, wooden pegs, andrabbets.[97]
The Únětice culture had trade links with the BritishWessex culture. Únětice metalsmiths used pure copper as well as alloys of copper witharsenic,antimony, and tin to producebronze. The cemetery ofSingen contained daggers with a high tin content (up to 9%). They may have been produced inBrittany, where a few rich graves have been found from this period.Cornish tin was widely traded as well. Agold lunula of Irish design has been found as far south asButzbach in Hessen (Germany). Another gold lunula is known fromSchulenburg in Lower Saxony.[98]Amber was also traded, but small fossil deposits may have been used as well asBaltic amber. Amber may have reached Mycenaean Greece from the Únětice culture.[99]
_Funde_aus_der_Fr%25C3%25BChbronzezeit%2c_Schlesien.jpg)
Analyses of Early Bronze Age rings, ribs, and axe blades from across central Europe have found that they had approximately standardised weights and probably served as a form ofcommodity money.[100] In the first centuries of the second millennium BC, increasing precision in exchange was achieved by the introduction of lighter ingots. Certain artefacts (e.g.,ösenrings) may have also been used as a type oftoken money.[101]
At the end of the Early Bronze Age, rings and ribs were replaced by scrap and raw metal, indicating the development ofweighing scales and the use of weighed metal as a means of payment. This weighing system may have emerged independently in central Europe through the serial production of bronze artefacts with perceptibly similar weights.[100][101]
In 2014, the largest known hoard of copper rib-ingots was discovered inOberding, Germany, consisting of 796 ingots, dating fromc. 1700 BC. The find is associated with theStraubing group. Most of the ingots were tied together withtree bast in bundles of ten, each individual ingot weighing approximately 100 grams on average and the bundles weighing approximately 1 kilogram each. Forty of these bundles were further grouped into bundles of ten (or 100 ingots). This indicates the use of adecimal system.[102][103][104] The use of approximately 1 kilogram of weight is also unusual, as the kilogram was first introduced as a unit of measurement in 1793.[104][105]
Some Early and Middle Bronze Age sites across central Europe and northern Italy, including Únětice culture sites, have yielded numerous small tablets made from clay (and occasionally stone) marked with sequences of geometric figures such as circles, lines, points, crosses, etc. The tablets are known asbrotlaibidole in German ("breadloaf idols") due to their shape and size, and astavolette enigmatiche in Italian ("enigmatic tablets").[106][107] The function of the tablets is not clear, and the meaning of the incisions has not yet been deciphered. The prevailing theory is that they served a purpose in long-distance communication or trade, possibly of metals.[108][109][110] According toHarald Meller, they probably represent a 'sign system' involved in trade. They are often found broken in two, which may indicate some sort of credit/debt system.[39][111] Part of a broken tablet was found within the rubble of the 'princely' burial mound ofBornhöck.[39][112] Early examples have been found withinBell Beaker contexts in Italy, associated with metallurgical activities.[113]
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Archeological evidence from 2000 BC onwards points to the emergence of a more complex and ranked society in central Europe and the appearance of a new aristocratic leadership on top of the traditional clan-based organisation of farmsteads and hamlets. The effects were seen across all spheres of society, from technology and economy to settlement and religion.[114] The Únětice culture in central Germany in particular exhibited a remarkably high level of social complexity. Based on the funerary record, metal hoards, and architectural evidence, it has been suggested that by the 20th-19th centuries BC, this society had developed into a type ofstate, ruled by a dominant leader supported by armed troops.[62] This is further indicated by evidence for the surplus production and centralisation of agricultural goods as well as the production of the Nebra Sky Disc.[115][62]
The main entrances of thePömmelte circular enclosure were oriented towards sunrise and sunset midway between thesolstices andequinoxes, indicating that it served as a monument for "ceremonies linked to calendrical rites and seasonal feasting".[80] These alignments marked the same dates as laterCeltic seasonal festivals such asBeltane andSamhain, which celebrated the transition of the seasons, the harvest, or commemoration of the dead.[116][117]
The diameter and ground plan of the Pömmelte enclosure are almost identical to those ofStonehenge in Britain (built around 2500 BC), which was aligned with the solstices and has been interpreted as serving acalendar function.[118][119][120] According to excavators of the Pömmelte site, the similarities between both monuments indicate that they were built by "the same culture" (theBell Beaker culture), with "the same view of the world".[81] It has been suggested that the close similarity between Pömmelte and earlier earth-and-timber circular enclosures, such as theGoseck Circle in Germany (c. 4900 BC) andhenges in Britain, may indicate a continuation of traditions dating back to theearly Neolithic.[121][122]
TheNebra sky disc, described as 'the oldest concrete depiction of astronomical phenomena in the world',[125][126] is thought to depict a calendar rule for harmonising thesolar andlunar years, enabling the creation of alunisolar calendar.[127][128][129] The cluster of stars next to the crescent moon is thought to represent thePleiades, known from other ancient contexts as 'calendar stars',[130] whilst the gold arcs on the edge of the disc (one of which is now missing) represent the angle between the solstices at thelatitude where the disc was found.[131] This feature also appears in a different form on theBush Barrow gold lozenge from Stonehenge, dating fromc. 1900 BC.[122] The number of stars on the disc (32, or 33 if the sun is included) may represent the equivalence of 32solar years to 33lunar years.[128][129][132] According to the archaeologist Christoph Sommerfeld, the disc may also encode knowledge of the 19-year lunisolarMetonic cycle.[133]
According to the archaeologistHarald Meller, the Nebra disc allowed for "an extremely accurate positing of time, including even the capacity for predictinglunar eclipses". As such, it represents "the establishment of a new temporal order" by elites of the Únětice culture and thereby "demonstrates their claim to state power".[134]
The site on the Mittelberg hill where the Nebra disc was found is thought to have served as an enclosed 'sacred precinct', delimited by earthen ramparts on two sides of the hill. From this location, when the disc is aligned to the north, the upper terminus of the western gold arc points towards theBrocken mountain, where the sun is seen to set on the summer solstice (21 June). Another distinctive marker on the horizon is the Kulpenberg hill, where the sun sets on 1 May (Beltane), a date also marked by the Pömmelte enclosure.[135]
Other depictions of the Pleiades are known from rock carvings dating from the early Bronze Age, such as atMont Bégo in thesouthern Alps[136][137] and on a 'Calendar Stone' atLeodagger in Austria, which was part of a cult site associated with the Únětice culture.[138][139]
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The Únětice culture is considered to be part of a wider pan-European cultural phenomenon, arising gradually between the second half of the 3rd millennium and the beginning of the 2nd.[140][10] According to Dalia Pokutta, "The role of the Únětice Culture in the formation ofBronze Age Europe cannot be overrated. The rise and the existence of this original, expansive and dynamic population mark one of the most interesting moments in European prehistory." The influence of this culture covered much larger areas mainly due to intensive exchange.[11] Únětice pottery and bronze objects are thus found inBritain,Ireland,Scandinavia, andItaly, as well as theBalkans.
The strong impact of Úněticean metallurgical centres and pottery-making traditions can be seen in other EBA groups, for example, in theAdlerberg,Straubing,Singen,Neckar-Ries, andUpper-Rhine groups in Germany and Switzerland, as well as theUnterwölbling in Austria. TheNitra group, inhabiting southern Slovakia, not only precedes the Únětice culture chronologically but is also strongly culturally related to it. All of these groups are alternatively seen as local variants of a broader Únětice culture.[141][142] According toMarija Gimbutas these cultures were, in a broad sense, "one unit", with the same burial rites, economy, habitation patterns, and pottery, which she groups together as 'early Únětice'.[143] TheVeterov culture of Moravia and theMad'arovce culture of Slovakia are sometimes considered to be subgroups within the final Únětice tradition.[144] According toBernard Sergent (1995), thePolada culture in northern Italy and theRhône culture in France and Switzerland also represent southern variants of the Únětice culture.[145][146] In later times, some elements of the Úněticean pottery-making traditions can be found in theTrzciniec culture as well.
Haak et al. 2015 examined the remains of eight individuals of the Únětice culture buried in modern-day Germanyc. 2200–1800 BC.[147] The three samples ofY-DNA extracted belonged to Y-haplogroupsI2a2,I2c2, andI2, while the eight samples ofmtDNA extracted were determined to belong to haplogroupI3a (two samples),U5a1,W3a1,U5b2a1b,H4a1a1,H3, andV.[148] The examined Únětice individuals were found to be very closely related to peoples of the earlierYamnaya,Bell Beaker, andCorded Ware cultures.[149] Their amount ofsteppe-related ancestry is comparable to that of some modern Europeans.[150]
Allentoft et al. 2015 examined the remains of seven individuals of the Únětice culture buried in modern-day Poland and Czechia fromc. 2300–1800 BC.[151] The seven samples of mtDNA extracted were determined to belong to haplogroupsU4,U2e1f1,H6a1b,U5a1b1,K1a4a1,T2b, andK1b1a.[152] An additional male from the late Corded Ware culture or early Únětice culture inŁęki Małe, Poland, ofc. 2300–2000 BC, was found to be a carrier of the paternal haplogroupR1b1a and the maternal haplogroupT2e.[153][152][154] It was found that the people of the Corded Ware culture, Bell Beaker culture, Únětice culture, andNordic Bronze Age were genetically very similar to one another and displayed a significant amount of genetic affinity with the Yamnaya culture.[155]
Papac et al. (2021) tested some more individuals from the Únětice burial sites: there, the Y-chromosome results (not including two by low-coverage samples) were: 1 G2a2b2a, 1 I2a1, 8 I2a2, 7 R1a-Z645, and 8 R1b-P312. The geneticists found that: "The Y-chromosomal data suggest an even larger turnover. A decrease of Y-lineage R1b-P312 from 100% (in late Bell Beaker Culture) to 20% (in preclassical Únětice) implies a minimum 80% influx of new Y-lineages at the onset of the Early Bronze Age". The autosomal results even point to a migration from the northeast, which the authors can link with the arrival of R1a-Z645, previously found in the Baltic region.[156]
Several individuals from two burial sites in Prague were tested in 2022 (both sites were used in different cultural periods). The male Y-DNA haplogroups from individuals assigned to the Únětice period were: two R1a1a1 (Z280) and eight I2a2a (I6635); with one individual with the derived clade PF3885, a tested male, being I2a-L38; four males had theR1b-L2 haplogroup (another tested individual had the derived R1b-L20 clade); a male had the haplogroup R1b-Y153322, which is underDF27.[157]
![Gold lunula from Schulenberg. Germany[158]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aLunula_2.png)
![Dagger of hybrid Únětice/Rhône type.[159]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aVollgriffdolch_von_D%25C3%25B6ttingen.jpg)
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![Bronze and amber artefacts, Dieskau II[160]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aF%25C3%25B6rtsch_Depotfund_von_Dieskau_(page_1).jpg)
![Bronze armband, Austria[161]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKM_-_Wartberg_Armmanschette.jpg)
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![Bronze axe, Austria[162][161]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKM_-_Wartberg_Nackenkammaxtcr.jpg)
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In the Únětice and related cultures a major expansion of production took place and ring ingots were exchanged widely. ... From now on tin bronzes began to dominate
This phase also includes the hoard of Nebra with its famous disc showing gold-plated heavenly bodies. Its plating technique is generally connected to Mycenaean metalwork. It will be shown, however, that this technique together with that of metal inlay had its origins in Britain, where it was already applied to organic material during the first phase of the Early Bronze Age, and flourished during the second and third phases when it was introduced on the continent and used on prestige metalwork.
The fortified site of Bruszczewo is one of the few EBA regional centers known in Central Europe ... Bruszczewo was an early central place with far-reaching connections and with different kinds of workshops that produced and developed commodities: firstly for regional demands involving conspicuous consumption, secondly for supra-regional demands from other regions that furthered 'international' exchange, existing earlier than structures known from, e.g., Mycenae or Malia.
Monumental two-aisled houses are found in the core area of the Únětice culture, while recent excavations show that monumental, three-aisled houses were introduced in the Saxony-Anhalt/Thuringia area in the Classical Únětice phase. An example is a 44 metres long and 11 metres wide three-aisled house excavated at Dermsdorf in Central Germany. This contained a hoard of approximately 25 kilos of bronze, consisting of 98 axes and two dagger rough-outs indicating that these monumental houses were inhabited by the elite who controlled metal exchange. The house was found only 3.6 kilometres from the famous Leubingen mound and belongs to the Classical Únětice phase.
The settlement of Bruszczewo, located in a context of a wide network in which, among others, amber and metal were exchanged, could have acted as a key agent in the control and production of some precious raw materials and/or objects at the border of the early metal producing groups. It is very likely that this settlement was a kind of a "gate" through which Baltic amber reached different parts of the Únětice world and, inter alia, could have been transferred to the centre of Únětice settlement in the Czech Basin (Ernée 2012). The amber route to the Mycenaean area probably began here, reaching the southern region during the 18th century BCE (Czebreszuk 2011).
Furthermore, the small but important repertoire of 'enigmatic tablets' from Fosso di Lumino (Fig. 3, no. 7)—apparently indicating a connection with metallurgical activities as testified by other contexts (for a synthesis see: Piccoli, Zanini, 2015)—would document significant links between the Florentine area, Northern Italy and Central Europe.
Women of the later Únětice Culture would sometimes wear a sun-disc with protruding star ornament
Another distinctive elevation on the horizon are the Kyffhäuser mountains with the Kulpenberg hill, where the sun is swallowed by the mountain on May 1st. Although this date is not encoded on the Sky Disc, it is known by other cultures as the Beltane or Spring Festival.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)Únětice Culture: A large group of early Bronze Age communities in central Europe, especially Bohemia, Bavaria, southeastern Germany, and western Poland, dating to the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. Named after a cemetery of 60 graves excavated north of Prague in the Czech Republic. Also known as the Aunjetitz Culture. The early phase seems to have developed out of the local Bell Beaker Culture and embraces a series of regional groups including Nitra (western Slovakia), Adlerberg (mid‐Rhine), Straubing (Bavaria), Marschwitz (Oder Basin), and Unterwölbling (Austria). ... To the east, the Únětice Culture overlaps the currency of the Nagyrév and Hatvan cultures, all within Montelius' Bronze Period I.
Regional groups [of the Unetice culture] include Nitra, Adlerberg, Straubing, Marschwitz, and Unterwölbling (Austria). ... The Veterov culture of Moravia and the Mad'arovce culture of Slovakia, which had links with the Mycenaean world, are sometimes considered to be subgroups within the final Unetice tradition.
The western, southern, eastern, and northern parts of the same culture have been given different names, which makes it appear as if seven or eight different cultures existed in this period. The group in the Oder basin was called the Marschwitz in German or Marszowic in Polish; the western Slovakian group: Nitra; the northwestern Hungarian and lower Austrian group south of Vienna: Wieselburg in German or Gata in Hungarian; the group west of Vienna along the Danube: Unterwolbling; the group in Bavaria south of the Danube: Straubing; the culture in the Tyrol: the Early Bronze Age of upper Austria; and the group on the upper Rhine: Adlerberg. All of these names designate local variants or groupings of one growing culture. [...] In a broad sense, however, the culture between the upper Rhine and the middle Danube west of Budapest was one unit, with the same burial rites, economy, habitation patterns, and pottery which I call early Únětice.
Regional groups [of the Unetice culture] include Nitra, Adlerberg, Straubing, Marschwitz, and Unterwölbling (Austria). ... The Veterov culture of Moravia and the Mad'arovce culture of Slovakia, which had links with the Mycenaean world, are sometimes considered to be subgroups within the final Únětice tradition.
The Rhône culture is the Swiss and east French counterpart of the Early Bronze Age cultures of central Europe. The metalwork and pottery are similar to those of the Straubing group in Bavaria.
Gerloff (1997) has discussed related copper ornaments in Central Europe, and such finds as the lunula from Dormettingen, Baden-Württemberg suggest that gold lunulae usually had to be imitated in copper in Central Europe. Lunulae cannot be dated precisely; they seem to have developed at the same time as primary Beaker gold and continued in use until the end of the second millennium BC. The Schulenburg and Butzbach examples could thus date to Bronze A1, like Gerloff'sGewandschließen.
Wir können diese Dreinietendolche als eine Art Unterabteilung des Aunjetitzer Typus auffassen. Der Dolch von Döttingen mit seinen 6 Nieten beweist durch diese und möglicherweise durch die Verzierung des Griffes, von Punkten eingefaßte Linienbänder, einen Einfluß vom Rhônetypus. Die Klinge dieses Dolches ist aber echt aunjetitzisch verziert, wie das große Linienbanddreieck erkennen läßt. Dieser Dolch muß ähnlich den Dolchen vom Schweizer Typus eine Mischform sein, die entstanden ist in der Peripherie des Verbreitungsgebietes beider Dolchtypen."English translation: "The dagger from Döttingen, with its six rivets, and possibly the decoration of the hilt, line bands bordered by dots, prove an influence of the Rhône type. The blade of this dagger, however, is genuinely Aunjetitz-decorated, as the large triangle of line bands indicates. Similar to the daggers of the Swiss type, this dagger must be a hybrid form that originated on the periphery of the distribution area of both dagger types.
